Arthur Wolfswift I haven't marched this hard in a long while. One of the perks of working my way up the ranks of the MPD was being able to ride, even drive, wherever you wanted to go. Well that and getting off the front lines. But I guess none of that matters since I don't work for them anymore, or anyone for that matter. Out here I'm just a new drifter in an old body, looking to avoid the trouble I've been trained to jump into. But I'm not foolish enough to let my guard down altogether. “Building up ahead!” says one of the girls, Kate or Jane, I forget. She's the nice one, I'll call her Kate. “Looks abandoned.” “Ain't everything abandoned?” I ask. “I mean since The Plague.” she says as her eyes call me a smart-ass. “It looks like it's been untouched for years. Untouched means there could be stuff inside, useful stuff.” I grab Dahvin's rifle and peer down the scope. The place does look pristine. In fact, it still looks locked up. Fresh supplies would be a blessing right about now. Dahvin and I lost most of our gear in a shoot out with some Horsemen. An act of vengeance for Dahvin's murdered family. I hope he got some closure because I certainly don't feel any more avenged, but judging from his distant mood as of late, neither does he. The other two, the girls, they only have on them what they could carry away from their village as it burnt down, and that wasn't much. And either way, it's getting late and cold and my feet are killing me, it'd be nice to take a break, so I agree to check it out. “Let's go.” “Think this is a good idea?” asks the reserved girl, Jane I believe. “I mean, this isn't an ambush or anything, right?” “If you can tell it's an ambush then it's a pretty shitty ambush.” I tell her. She looks at me even more suspiciously. I'm not certain she asked her question to calm her own fears or if she thought I was leading her into an ambush myself. I decide not to point out the fact I could have killed her a hundred times over already. “But don't worry, the only place someone could hide is behind those rocks, and you could only fit a handful of people behind there.” Jane just looks at me, then the pile or rocks, then back at me before she walks back over to Kate's side. It's obvious she doesn't trust either me or Dahvin, but I can't tell if it's because she's smart or just a bitch. Honestly, I don't care, as long as she keeps her ass out of trouble. “Wait!” cries Kate as she suddenly stops. “I think I heard something.” I crane my ears in an attempt to hear something, anything, and all I hear is silence. “I don't hear nothing. Dahvin?” I turn to him. “I didn't hear anything, sir.” “Keep your 'sirs' to yourself,” I mutter, “I'm no commanding officer anymore.” “I swear I heard something.” Kate was clearly agitated and she started tapping the back of her hand. “I think we should be quiet.” Everyone shuts up and starts silently walking towards the pile of rubble. I'm not one to trust the overactive imagination of a scared girl over my own five senses, but there's no harm in being careful. I slowly make my way up the rubble pile in an attempt to peer over the top when suddenly a man pops up over the top of the rocks and takes a shot at me. Luckily he misses me and I'm able to drop down behind a large slab. “Get down!” I yell to everyone down below. Of course, no one listens. Dahvin runs up towards me, gun aimed at the peak, while the two girls run off in opposite directions around the pile. Great. I agree to help protect these girls and they're going to get themselves killed on our first hostile encounter. I'm used guarding people who run away from gunfire, not towards it. I hope they know what they're doing. I position myself behind the slab of concrete and take aim at the top. “Stop shooting!” I yell, “We're not hostile!” but all I hear in return is some muttering about precious treasures. “I don't want anything of yours. Just grab your stuff and we can all walk away from here.” I hope he takes the offer, I'd rather not have my first day as a 'protector of the innocent' to end in bloodshed. He opts otherwise. Again he pops up and takes another shot. That's two, I'm not waiting for a third. I line up his center mass to my iron sights and pull the trigger. He goes down, hard. While Dahvin makes his way up to the top, I stay sitting on the rocks, angry at myself. Angry that I missed something that an amateur picked up on. Angry for killing someone I didn't really want to kill, again. But then I realize that Dahvin missed the sound too and he's still a young guy, and I only shot someone because he shot at me first. I chalk everything up to bad luck and slowly get to my feet. Not my ideal way to start a journey, but at least we're still alive. If we all remain careful, this should only get easier from here on out.
I haven't marched this hard in a long while. One of the perks of working my way up the ranks of the MPD was being able to ride, even drive, wherever you wanted to go. Well that and getting off the front lines. But I guess none of that matters since I don't work for them anymore, or anyone for that matter. Out here I'm just a new drifter in an old body, looking to avoid the trouble I've been trained to jump into. But I'm not foolish enough to let my guard down altogether.
“Building up ahead!” says one of the girls, Kate or Jane, I forget. She's the nice one, I'll call her Kate. “Looks abandoned.”
“Ain't everything abandoned?” I ask.
“I mean since The Plague.” she says as her eyes call me a smart-ass. “It looks like it's been untouched for years. Untouched means there could be stuff inside, useful stuff.” I grab Dahvin's rifle and peer down the scope. The place does look pristine. In fact, it still looks locked up. Fresh supplies would be a blessing right about now. Dahvin and I lost most of our gear in a shoot out with some Horsemen. An act of vengeance for Dahvin's murdered family. I hope he got some closure because I certainly don't feel any more avenged, but judging from his distant mood as of late, neither does he. The other two, the girls, they only have on them what they could carry away from their village as it burnt down, and that wasn't much. And either way, it's getting late and cold and my feet are killing me, it'd be nice to take a break, so I agree to check it out. “Let's go.”
“Think this is a good idea?” asks the reserved girl, Jane I believe. “I mean, this isn't an ambush or anything, right?”
“If you can tell it's an ambush then it's a pretty shitty ambush.” I tell her. She looks at me even more suspiciously. I'm not certain she asked her question to calm her own fears or if she thought I was leading her into an ambush myself. I decide not to point out the fact I could have killed her a hundred times over already. “But don't worry, the only place someone could hide is behind those rocks, and you could only fit a handful of people behind there.” Jane just looks at me, then the pile or rocks, then back at me before she walks back over to Kate's side. It's obvious she doesn't trust either me or Dahvin, but I can't tell if it's because she's smart or just a bitch. Honestly, I don't care, as long as she keeps her ass out of trouble.
“Wait!” cries Kate as she suddenly stops. “I think I heard something.”
I crane my ears in an attempt to hear something, anything, and all I hear is silence. “I don't hear nothing. Dahvin?” I turn to him.
“I didn't hear anything, sir.”
“Keep your 'sirs' to yourself,” I mutter, “I'm no commanding officer anymore.”
“I swear I heard something.” Kate was clearly agitated and she started tapping the back of her hand. “I think we should be quiet.” Everyone shuts up and starts silently walking towards the pile of rubble. I'm not one to trust the overactive imagination of a scared girl over my own five senses, but there's no harm in being careful. I slowly make my way up the rubble pile in an attempt to peer over the top when suddenly a man pops up over the top of the rocks and takes a shot at me. Luckily he misses me and I'm able to drop down behind a large slab.
“Get down!” I yell to everyone down below. Of course, no one listens. Dahvin runs up towards me, gun aimed at the peak, while the two girls run off in opposite directions around the pile. Great. I agree to help protect these girls and they're going to get themselves killed on our first hostile encounter. I'm used guarding people who run away from gunfire, not towards it. I hope they know what they're doing.
I position myself behind the slab of concrete and take aim at the top. “Stop shooting!” I yell, “We're not hostile!” but all I hear in return is some muttering about precious treasures. “I don't want anything of yours. Just grab your stuff and we can all walk away from here.” I hope he takes the offer, I'd rather not have my first day as a 'protector of the innocent' to end in bloodshed. He opts otherwise. Again he pops up and takes another shot. That's two, I'm not waiting for a third. I line up his center mass to my iron sights and pull the trigger. He goes down, hard. While Dahvin makes his way up to the top, I stay sitting on the rocks, angry at myself. Angry that I missed something that an amateur picked up on. Angry for killing someone I didn't really want to kill, again. But then I realize that Dahvin missed the sound too and he's still a young guy, and I only shot someone because he shot at me first. I chalk everything up to bad luck and slowly get to my feet. Not my ideal way to start a journey, but at least we're still alive. If we all remain careful, this should only get easier from here on out.